The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona collected more than $7.7 million in fines and debts from offenders during fiscal 2013, down substantially from the previous year, the agency says.

Nearly $4.8 million was collected in criminal actions, while more than $2.9 million was collected in civil actions.

The collections marked about a 40 percent decrease from the previous year, according to the agency.

In 2012, collections hit $12.9 million. Approximately $8.2 million was derived through criminal actions, while $4.7 million was through civil actions.

U.S. Attorney for Arizona John Leonardo said the latest figures show a need to restore his office to previous funding levels.

“The funding appropriated by Congress in support of United States Attorney’s Offices is a good investment for the American taxpayer,” Leonardo said in a written statement.

“It is truly remarkable that this was accomplished during a year of reduced budgets and a hiring freeze. With more resources, the amount collected could have been even greater.”

Despite their appeal for increased funding, U.S. Attorney’s Office officials would not disclose the amount of the agency’s funding in 2013 or this year.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Phoenix declined to provide the figures and referred questions to the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington.

Officials in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for the information filed under the Freedom of Information Act.

But Leonardo provided a glimpse into the agency’s workforce last month.

He told The Arizona Republic that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Arizona is programmed for 170 attorneys and 147 support employees, but it has been operating with 143 attorneys and 117 support employees. He said a hiring freeze has been in place for about a year, keeping staffing levels down about 18 percent.

Despite the crimp in manpower, prosecutors in the Arizona office partnered with prosecutors in other U.S. Attorney’s offices and other federal agencies across the county to collect approximately $519.5 million more that was owed to the government and to crime victims, the agency says.

The largest collections resulted from cases involving fraud and other misconduct by individuals and corporations, resulting in violations of federal health, safety, civil-rights and environmental laws, the agency says.

No prosecutors involved in those sorts of cases in Arizona were available to discuss them, said Cosme Lopez, a spokesman for the agency.

The collections were divvied three ways, he said.

A portion of the collected money was turned over to crime victims as restitution for certain offenses, while other fines and assessments were used to underwrite crime-victim programs and a variety of federal law-enforcement programs.

Nationally, the Department of Justice collected approximately $8.1 billion in criminal and civil actions during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the agency says.

The collections represented nearly three times the agency’s overall budget of $2.76 billion for the year. The Department of Justice operates 94 U.S. Attorney’s Offices overall.

“The department’s enforcement actions help to not only ensure justice is served, but also deliver a valuable return to the American people,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

“It is critical that Congress provide the resources necessary to match the department’s mounting caseload.”

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